The Workshop

Today we had a town-hall meeting/ workshop with several members of the community. Based on the results from our surveying, Harry planned a workshop that would involve any interested community members to help us determine the needs of the community in terms of development.
Harry discussed several key factors that the community should consider as outside influences. These issues include things like gas prices, the digital age, the retirement of Baby Boomers, etc. We later discussed inside issues affecting Bamberg—things like the school system, taxes, and housing. After each discussion, table groups used poker chips to rank which factors were more important to them as citizens. I loved interacting with the community. Hearing their concerns made the needs real.
I was fortunate to be at a table with two members of the city council, as well as two community members. One table member was a white male, and the other three members were black females. However, all four table members shared the same concerns. They felt as if the town had many issues to resolve with its neighboring community in Denmark, mainly based around racial differences. It will be very important for Bamberg and Denmark to work together in the future in order to grow and develop.
Another key issue that was brought up was the need for community multifunctional spaces and retail opportunities. Most table members said that they leave town to grocery shop, buy gas, eat, or to find activities. It also seems that with a limited number of retail locations in Bamberg--for example, Bamberg only has one grocery store—there is no outside competition for prices.
Finally, our table had a long discussion about the status of downtown and its need for revitalization. I was particularly enjoying this conversation because of my own interest in urban restoration and historic preservation in my hometown (Macon, GA). To end our exercised for the day, we had table members draw on top of an areal map of Bamberg the areas to which they felt deserved attention. We also had them mark the good parts of town and the bad parts of town.
The workshop was very exciting for me. I became very interested in planning. For the rest of the day I even wondered if I had adopted the wrong field of study for my masters. Hopefully, I will be able to take some classes involving planning in the future.
Lastly, I was able to speak with Janeth, the city council member at my table, about becoming involved with city projects, such as the ones in Bamberg and even in Macon. I could tell from talking with her that we both shared a passion for our home cities. However, she warned me that it can be a difficult job from time to time. As she put it, you have so many great visions for your community that will almost all fail due to politics and money. I can already begin to understand what she means by this just from participating in this class. However, I am not ready to give up yet. Hopefully in the future I will have opportunities to explore architecture in the civic realm for myself.